1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a wireless communication apparatus such as mobile telephone equipment, and in particular to a wireless communication apparatus having a rechargeable battery or secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a rechargeable battery has been widely used as a power supply for portable or hand-held wireless telephone equipment in consideration of running costs. Such a rechargeable battery is charged by a battery charger for the wireless telephone equipment. When the wireless telephone equipment is placed on the battery charger, charging power is supplied to the rechargeable battery of the wireless telephone equipment. During battery charging, a light-emitting diode (LED) is turned on or blinking so as to inform a user of charging. The wireless telephone equipment like this has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility-model Unexamined Publication No. 5-76138.
Further, an AC-DC converter (hereinafter, called an AC adapter) is frequently used to charge the rechargeable battery. In this case, when the AC adapter is connected to the electronic device, the display of the electronic device or a dedicated LED indicates the charging state.
As another conventional example, a rechargeable electronic device such as a household electrical appliance has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 3-215135. The rechargeable electronic device, for example, a rechargeable shaver or bath bubbling apparatus is provided with a rechargeable battery, a rectifier circuit, and an LED section. The LED section includes three LEDs which are used to indicate charging and operating states. When a battery charger having a transformer therein is connected to the rechargeable electronic device, it is detected and the LED section indicates a charging state. When the rechargeable electronic device is operated, the LED section indicates the operating state.
For a wireless communication apparatus such as mobile telephone equipment, it is desirable to reduce in weight and size. According to the above prior-art apparatuses, however, the charge indicator is mounted on the charger or on both the charger and the wireless communication apparatus. Therefore a light source dedicated to charge indication is needed.
In the rechargeable electronic device such as a household electrical appliance, no consideration is given to the portability required for mobile telephone equipment. More specifically, a charge indication LED as well as an operation indication LED are mounted on the household electrical appliance. Further, since a photo coupler is used to detect the battery charger, the connection between the battery charger and the household electrical appliance is complicated.
Furthermore, according to the above prior-art equipment, only one battery charging connector is provided. Therefore, there may be cases where the rechargeable battery cannot be charged.
An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication apparatus and a charging method which can indicate a charge state with simplified circuit configuration.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication apparatus and a charging method which can be charged by a plurality of battery charging sources.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a wireless communication apparatus is comprised of a light-emitting indicator and a rechargeable battery as a power supply for the wireless communication apparatus. The wireless communication apparatus is further comprised of a connector for detachably connecting a battery charger to the rechargeable battery, a charge detector for detecting a charge state by monitoring a voltage of the rechargeable battery, and an indicator controller for controlling the light-emitting indicator such that the light-emitting indicator lights up in a way different from a normal way when the charge state is detected by the charge detector.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a wireless communication apparatus is comprised of a rechargeable battery as a power supply for the wireless communication apparatus, a first connector for detachably connecting a first charging source to the rechargeable battery, a first detector for detecting a charge state by monitoring a voltage of the rechargeable battery, a second connector for detachably connecting a second charging source, a second detector for detecting connection of the charging source, and a charge controller connected to the second connector, for charging the rechargeable battery using charge power received from the second charging source when the connection of the second charging source is detected.
The wireless communication apparatus may include a light-emitting indicator, and an indicator controller for controlling the light-emitting indicator such that the light-emitting indicator lights up in a way different from a normal way when at least one of the charge state and the connection of the second charging source is detected.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in a method for indicating a charge state in a wireless communication apparatus having a light-emitting indicator and a rechargeable battery as a power supply, a charge state is detected by monitoring a voltage of the rechargeable battery and the light-emitting indicator is controlled such that the light-emitting indicator lights up in a way different from a normal way when the charge state is detected by the charge detector.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in a method for charging a rechargeable battery of a wireless communication apparatus, a connection of a battery charger is detected by monitoring a voltage of the rechargeable battery and a connection of an AC-to-DC converter is detected. The rechargeable battery is charged using charge power received from the AC-to-DC converter when the connection of the AC-to-DC converter is detected and the connection of the battery charger is not detected, and is charged using charge power received from the battery charger when the connection of the battery charger is detected.